KATOUCHA

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Katoucha Niane was born in 1960 in Guinea. She was one of the first black models who paraded on many podiums in Europe. She became the muse of famous dress designers like Yves Saint Laurent or Christian Lacroix. On one hand she was a devoted mother, and on the other hand she involved herself in human causes. For instance, she paraded for the Princess Kata Mara’s association which defends Burundi’s children. But the main cause which she fought against is the excision (female genital mutilation) of the little girls in Africa. When she was nine, she was also excised and she suffered a lot because of that. That’s why she decided to fight against that and she created Katoucha’s Association. This association permits publishing books about this subject, earning money and trying to change mindset.

I admire this woman because, even if she sustained this mayhem, she became a model, a good mother and she fought against excision in order to stop African ladies’ suffering. She was bold enough to talk about this subject, which is an old tradition in Africa and which is taboo. She has also written a book about her history which supplies a testimony of this horrible tradition. I think this fight contributes to defend women’s rights.

Unfortunately, Katoucha disappeared on February the first 2008, and her body was discovered in the Seine. Nobody knows what happened. Perhaps she had fallen into the water because she lived on a barge but some people still think she was murdered because of her actions against excision. I hope that even if she is dead, the fight against excision will continue and this horrible practice will be quickly abolished.